Freelancers Insurance Essentials -
Jury Service Expenses Insurance

Freelancers insurance for Jury Service Expenses

A key insurance consideration for freelancers is for cover in the event that you are required to take time out to serve on a jury. This will prevent you from working with clients and earning fees and therefore the opportunity cost is likely to be substantial.

It is possible to make an application to the court for exemption from jury service, however, there is no guarantee that the application will be successful and failure to present yourself at court when instructed to do so is a serious matter and may result in a legal action against you.

In most countries the compensation available to jurors is set at a level that will cover basic travel and lunch expenses but provides no redress for loss of earnings or expenses incurred.

As an example, insurance for jury service expenses will typically pay an allowance of say £400 per day for a specified maximum period such as fifteen days.

This is likely to be lower than your daily rate but will help bridge the gap between the statutory minimum expenses available to you and the lost fee income.

For the insurer this caps the value of the potential claim to £6,000 less any compensation that can be claimed from the court.

The cost of this cover is likely to be fairly modest and if you have not been selected for jury service ever, or during the past six or seven years, it might be prudent to purchase cover for a couple of years given the increased probability of being selected.

Jury Service Expenses Insurance could prove to be a sound investment.